How to Use Plesk for Backups

Backing up your crucial data is one of the most important things to keep in mind when operating your own server (no matter if it is a VPS or a Dedicated Server). Several tools and approaches are available for that. 

Contabo offers S3-compatible Object Storage which can be used for backups of your data. Your files are stored in our Data Center with three redundancy disks in Ceph. That means three drives can fail at the same time without affecting data. 

In the following article, we explain how you can use the Plesk Backup Manager with our S3-compatible Object Storage to back up your server running Plesk.

Preparing your Object Storage

Before setting up a backup for your Plesk instance, we need to prepare our Object Storage first. To do so login to the Object Storage dashboard here. 

After successfully login in, click on Create Bucket to create a Bucket, in which you backups will be saved. It makes sense to give it a fitting name e.g. the servers name or the IP address of the belonging server so you won’t lose track of different backups in your Object Storage. If you want, you can even create some subfolders in this bucket but this is optional.

Changing the Partition Layout of Your VPS after OS Installation

 

What are Partitions?

Imagine a laptop with a 500 GB disk and Windows as the operating system. By default, Windows is installed on the 500 GB disk. But what if you want to have both Windows and Linux? That’s where partitions come in. For example, you can create a 400 GB partition and a 100 GB partition on your 500 GB disk. Now your physical disk acts like two separate disks which means you can install Windows on one partition and Linux on the other.

In other words, partitions are logically separated parts on a hard drive that are treated as if they were separate hard drives. That means, each partition can have its own file system on it and they can also be encrypted.

Setting Up WordPress with Cloud-Init

 

WordPress is the most used open-source content management system – and it’s totally free. More than 40% of the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress*, both small blogs and large websites. WordPress is extremely customizable and beginner-friendly, but is also suitable for large and complex websites.

Automate the Setup Process with Cloud-Init

Setting up new WordPress instances is easy, but in order for WordPress to run you need a webserver and a MySQL database. Setting all of this up can take a lot of time, especially if you’re doing it on a large scale.

However, if you want to add WordPress to your existing server, head over to this guide on setting up WordPress manually.

Cloud-Init can be used to automate the installation and setup process of your server by following a specific set of instructions you define. So in this guide, we will take a look at how the installation process looks and create a Cloud-Init config for it, so it can be automated.

Benefits of using Cloud-Init

The true power of Cloud-Init is not only automating the initial installation, but replicating it on multiple machines – automatically. This is a huge time-saver in case of a disaster, where you need a new server running and configured as fast as possible. For more details about Cloud-Init itself, we’ve written a whole article about the benefits and how to use it.

How to Remove the Powered By Text in WordPress Theme Footer

In this article, we are going to cover how to remove the powered by text in WordPress. Or simply say how to change to footer text in WordPress.

There can be two cases, first in case you are using the Themes of AcmeThemes and for ordinary WordPress themes. We are going to cover for both cases.

Case 1 – If you are using themes by Acme Theme

All of our themes have Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: AcmeBlog by AcmeThemes. The text is written in the footer section. If you want to remove this you have a different approach to this.
In the case of Premium Theme,
If you are using the premium version(paid version), you have options to hide such a section on Appearance > Customize > Footer Options > Enable/Disable Enable Theme Name and Powered by Text. Checked to show and unchecked to hide the powered by text on the footer.

In the case of Free Themes,
We have a variety of WordPress theme which are free and if you want to hide the Powered by text, you can either customize the theme or need to use the custom CSS codes
1. If you are familiar with WordPress codes, you can customize the theme. Please find the codes inside `acmethemes/hooks/footer.php` file and customize it as you need.

or,

2. Use the below CSS codes on Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS to hide that text.

.site-info {

display: none;

}

How to Run a Bitwarden Server on a VPS

 

In today’s digital age, passwords are more prevalent than ever. Many of us use social media, online banking and much more. All these accesses are secured with passwords, among other things. Ideally, you should use a different password for each platform, which is also long and contains special characters and numbers. With all these passwords, it is easy to lose track of them. This is where password managers come into play.

Bitwarden is a popular password manager, which is open source. There is a free as well as a paid version hosted by the company behind Bitwarden, or you can host a Bitwarden instance yourself. We will show you how to do that today.  

There are two ways to install a Bitwarden instance. If you plan to run only Bitwarden on a given virtual machine you should pick Bitwarden standalone variant. If you also want to use the server for a different purpose you need to use a “modified” Rust-written variant of Bitwarden. You can read more about “Vaultwarden” here.

Table of Contents

• Installing Bitwarden Server (Standalone)
  • Requirements
  • Preparation
  • Downloading the installation script
  • Running the installation script and installation
• Install Vaultwarden Server (Bitwarden)
  • Requirements
  • Preparation
    • Create a Virtual Host
    • Activate required modules
    • Install SSL certificate
  • Download and run Vaultwarden

Top 5 SEO Tools For Websites

 

Here's a snapshot of everyday life in 2022 summed up in a single SEO statistic. When ten people search Google on their smartphone, six of those people will go on to contact that business directly.

What does this mean for you? It means SEO is no longer a nice-to-have. It's a business necessity.

SEO investment starts with having the right tools and software to keep your business rankings where they should be. So we've put together this guide to the top five SEO tools for websites you need to know about in 2022.

1. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a fantastic all-rounder for SEO research and one of the most popular tools on the market. The tool's core features include:

• An SEO performance dashboard
• Competitor research
• Keyword rankings tool and tracker
• Keyword research tool
• SEO site audit tool
• Content ideas tool

Ahrefs starts from $99 a month, but for more extensive enterprise packages (suitable for SEO agencies with numerous clients), you'll pay $999 a month.

Tools like Ahrefs are a helpful way to boost your site's domain authority. What is domain authority? Head to that link to find out more.

How to upgrade XAMPP in Windows? Complete Solution

 

I had to write this article cause I couldn’t find any complete solution to help people out with updating XAMPP in Windows. Well, finally here is an easy to understand, step by step guide to upgrade XAMPP that actually works. Kudos!

SOME MAJOR CHANGES!

If you are updating XAMPP after a long time like me than be ready for some major changes. XAMPP no longer comes with the MySQL server. Since XAMPP 5.5.30 and 5.6.14, XAMPP ships MariaDB instead of MySQL. So copy pasting the mysql data files from old to new xampp won’t work anymore!

How to Accept Payments Online?

 

There is a prominent change in customer buying behavior i.e. most choose to place an order over the phone or online vs. visiting your store or studio. Small businesses need to gear themselves for this and a critical aspect of this is accepting payments online.

Here are some globally popular payment options you can consider to accept customer payments online:

1. Google Pay

   Both the business and customer need to have a phone number, a bank account and an internet connection to use this payment method.

   If you don’t have a website or app here is how you can use this payment method:

   • Get started and Set up your Google Pay Account
   • Send a payment request to your customer. You can tell them you will do this while you speak with them on the phone, deliver services to their home or consult them online

   If you already have an app or website you can refer to this guide to Set Up Google Pay for Business and integrate it with your website, app.

   You can also checkout video tutorials to know more about Google Pay.

2. Google Pay is an online payment method that allows users to make digital payments using their laptops, tablets, phones or smartwatches. This payment method is available to both Android and iOS users.

3. Apple Pay

   Apple Pay is a digital payment service that enables iOS users to make payments online. It is supported on the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. If most of your customers use iPhones or Apple devices, this might be the right medium for you.

   • Setup Apple Pay
   • Send and receive money with Apple Pay - Apple has a sleek video tutorial that shows you and your customers how easy this is. You can also read the details here

At the moment, both these payment methods are not available in all countries. Be sure to check if they are supported in your country before getting started.

Good Luck!

Connect to remote VPS on Linux

Introduction

One of Linux's most appealing features is the ability to skillfully use a computer with nothing but commands entered into the keyboard—and better yet, to be able to do that on computers anywhere in the world. Thanks to OpenSSH, POSIX users can open a secure shell on any computer they have permission to access and use it from a remote location. It's a daily task for many Linux users, but it can be confusing for someone who has yet to try it. This article explains how to configure two computers for secure shell (SSH) connections, and how to securely connect from one to the other without a password.

Terminology:

When discussing more than one computer, it can be confusing to identify one from the other. The IT community has well-established terms to help clarify descriptions of the process of networking computers together.

How to Use SSH Keys with Your VPS?

What are SSH Keys?

Linux servers are by default secured by a password. However, this type of authentication is not ideal from a security standpoint because your server can be vulnerable to Brute-Force-, or dictionary attacks. SSH Keys are like a “keycard” to access your server without a password.

Table of Contents

• What are SSH Keys?
• SSH Keys vs. Passwords
• SSH Key Authentication Explained:
• Generate SSH Keys:
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • Key Comments Explained (optional)
  • Key Passphrase Explained (optional, recommended)
• Uploading Public Keys to the Server:
  • via FTP
  • via Console
• How to Use Your Private Key with PuTTY:
• How to use your Private Key with Pageant:
• Testing SSH Key Authentication and Disabling Password Authentication:
  • Testing SSH Key Authentication
  • Disabling Password Authentication
• Removing SSH Key Authentication and Re-enabling Password Authentication:

Difference and Choose the Right Storage for You

The hardest part of choosing a new server, whether it’s a dedicated server or virtual private server, is the selection of the right hardware that will fit your needs. If you’re like most people, then you try to purchase maximum CPU cores for your budget. You also check how much RAM you’ll get. You’re cautious about having enough storage capacity. But there is one crucial element that most people forget – the storage type.

Not all drives are made equal. There is a huge difference in price and performance between NVMe, SSD and HDD storage. In this article, we’ll guide you through different types of drives so that you can pick the best one for you.

HDD, SSD, NVMe: From Spinning Platters to Lightning-fast Express Drive

HDD: Hard Disk Drives

The oldest of them all, hard disk drives (HDD), is the only one of three based on moving parts – spinning platters and moving needles, recording data on different sectors of the metal disc. The technology itself goes way back to the 50s, when it was introduced by IBM. Although cheapest on the list, they’re also slowest when it comes to read-write operations. Most HDDs can’t exceed maximal S-ATA II speed of ~270 MB/s. HDD is the ultimate solution in case you want to store your data for as little money as possible. But you’ll have to wait more when reading/writing data. Although slower, they’re still popular. Our customers can still encounter HDD drives in Storage VPS or while configurating Dedicated Servers.

Capacity of storage varies greatly, but most drives range somewhere between hundreds of Gigabytes to few Terabytes. In case of virtual instances, we at Contabo offer hard disk space starting from 300 GB.
Home users are sometimes concerned about HDDs’ sensibility to outside shocks or sudden movements. But that’s not really a concern in the case of data centers, because servers are fixed to racks or shelves and not moved around.